[MowHoward2210]

I have an 80 gig external Firewire hard drive that I use for backup and video editing. I have a lot of unfinished video projects and the drive is nearing 80% full. I would like to dedicate the old drive to backup and get a new drive for Video only.

I can get a 250 gig Firewire 400 external hard drive for about $179. For about $100 more I can get the same thing but with USB 2.0 and Firewire 800. My machines do not have USB 2.0 or Firewire 800 ports. Should I "prepare for the future" or just buy what I need now?

Yes, I am somewhat of a tightwad and not wealthy, despite being a JD owner and a Mac user! FWFW I drive an '85 Toyota Supra, if that tell you anything. I guess what I am getting at will Firewire be around for awhile? Or will USB 2.0 be the dominant player down the road?

 

[Greg]

Mow,

Go for the Gold....

I would go for the USB2 and Firewire 800 (you are saying they have both modes, right?). I think Firewire will be around for a long time and just get better (I just got a LaCie Firewire burner). USB 2 is on lots of stuff.

JMO...

Greg

 

[MowHoward2210]

Thanks, Greg. I do like to "buy ahead", just don't like the added cost sometimes.

The model I'm looking at is a Lacie and does have FW800 and USB 2.0, and, of course, is backwards compatible with FW 400. My 80 gig FW 400 drive is an EZ Quest Cobra. I've been real pleased with it.

 

[Durwood]

I saw a 200 meg internal hard drive at Sams for $109.00. The prices sure have come down lately. They also had a 256 meg SD memory card for your computer or
camera for $38.00. That is dirt cheap. I'll probably pick one up next time i go back.

 

[MowHoward2210]

Originally posted by Durwood
I saw a 200 meg internal hard drive at Sams for $109.00. The prices sure have come down lately. They also had a 256 meg SD memory card for your computer or
camera for $38.00. That is dirt cheap. I'll probably pick one up next time i go back.

That's a good deal. I'll check Sam's for an external HD. Sam's has some good prices on electronics sometimes.

 

[Durwood]

Mow, they have a good deal on an external one at Sams because i remember looking at it and thinking it was a good price, but i can't remember how much it was now. Their website might have it on it.

 

[tisenberg]

Firewire is pretty much the direction that a lot of hardware will go... including entertainment systems. USB drives are nice, but it's not the fastest technology. The otherside is price and then the system in general. The FW stuff has come down in price A LOT. If you were to get a FW800, would your system in general be able to keep up enough to even use the 800 throughput... not sure.

 

[MowHoward2210]

I'm pretty sure it's backwards compatable, but you bought up a good point. I'll need to confirm that before I buy.

 

[MowHoward2210]

I found out that Firewire 800 is not backwards compatable to FW 400. It has a different pin arangment on the connector. However, some of the models I've been looking at have FW 400 and 800, and /or USB 2.0. I guess when I saw 400 mentioned on the drives with FW 800, I assumed 800 was backward compatable. Still haven't made a choice yet. :truth:

 

[leolav]

I just got a no name SD 512mb card for $40.00 on ebay. I was expecting a lemon, it comes in and it is a brand new sandisk!!!

Don't know why and don't as questions when that happens. The guy was out of NYC and imports a ton of stuff. Bought a few things from him and his quality is alway good.

 

[balmoralboy]

Buying ahead

Mow,

I don't know about anyone else, but my experience on buying ahead on computer stuff is that either my crystal ball wasn't coming in clear, and the new technology goes a different way than I predicted, or else the prices drop enough by the time I upgrade my system that I could have used the $100 extra to buy the whole drive in the new format.

So, my vote is keep the $100 in the bank unless you have a machine that can access the speed you're paying for. When you go to upgrade to a system with firewire 800, or firewire 2500, use the $100 to cover the cost of your new 1000 gig firewire 2500 video drive. After all, I still remember when ram (and hard drives!) went below $1/Mb at retail. One guy I knew had just redone his machine to take advantage of the low cost of the new 8Mb SIMMS ($54 each or $6.75 per Mb). After all, how could you use more than 32Mb of ram? Now you're talking 250 gig at $170 or $.68 per gig.

Regards

 

[MowHoward2210]

Re: Buying ahead

Originally posted by balmoralboy
Mow,

I don't know about anyone else, but my experience on buying ahead on computer stuff is that either my crystal ball wasn't coming in clear, and the new technology goes a different way than I predicted, or else the prices drop enough by the time I upgrade my system that I could have used the $100 extra to buy the whole drive in the new format.

So, my vote is keep the $100 in the bank unless you have a machine that can access the speed you're paying for. When you go to upgrade to a system with firewire 800, or firewire 2500, use the $100 to cover the cost of your new 1000 gig firewire 2500 video drive. After all, I still remember when ram (and hard drives!) went below $1/Mb at retail. One guy I knew had just redone his machine to take advantage of the low cost of the new 8Mb SIMMS ($54 each or $6.75 per Mb). After all, how could you use more than 32Mb of ram? Now you're talking 250 gig at $170 or $.68 per gig.

Regards

Sound advice! Thanks, Jim.

 

[Greg]

Mow,

I just bought a Seagate 200 Gig ATA internal drive for $79, after rebates, at Comp USA. I have a G4 tower bought in 2000 and it won't recognize more that 128 Gigs. Bus limitation. Still not a bad price and I can always take it out and put it in my PC running MS XP for the full 200 G's.

Might want to check before you buy.... also check out: http://discussions.info.apple.com/powermacg4/ for more info if you are running a G4.

Greg

 

[MowHoward2210]

Originally posted by Greg
Mow,

I just bought a Seagate 200 Gig ATA internal drive for $79, after rebates, at Comp USA. I have a G4 tower bought in 2000 and it won't recognize more that 128 Gigs. Bus limitation. Still not a bad price and I can always take it out and put it in my PC running MS XP for the full 200 G's.

Might want to check before you buy.... also check out: http://discussions.info.apple.com/powermacg4/ for more info if you are running a G4.

Greg

Greg, I need and external drive to use between my iMac and my kids' iMac. But that's a good price you got on the Seagate. According to one of the posts via the link you posted, there is no limit on the size of an external Firewire drive.

 

[Greg]

Mow,

How about putting a big internal on your i.mac...and a wireless network with the kid's iMac to a partition on yours for what ever the kids need? The network could hook up other things too...printer...internet... ?? I'm ignorant when it comes to networks and am just now looking into it. Just a thought.

 

[MowHoward2210]

Originally posted by Greg
Mow,

How about putting a big internal on your i.mac...and a wireless network with the kid's iMac to a partition on yours for what ever the kids need? The network could hook up other things too...printer...internet... ?? I'm ignorant when it comes to networks and am just now looking into it. Just a thought.

Greg that's a good idea for the big internal drive. I had never thought of that.

But the main reason I want another drive is for video editing. I already have an external drive that I use for back up and video editing. I do most of my video editing on the kids 17"LCD G4 iMac. It has a bigger screen and renders faster than my G3 CRT. I don't have to physically move the external drive, as the Firewire cable will swing between the workstations. These machines are all networked and share one printer, a DSL connection, and occasionally share files.

My goal is to have a drive solely for backup and a drive for that can be shared for video. I would be hesitant to dry to edit video on another drive through the network connection. It might not be able to transfer data fast enough compared to a straight firewire connection to the machine.

 

[Greg]

Mow,

" I don't have to physically move the external drive, as the Firewire cable will swing between the workstations." You mean you disconnect the firewire cable from one computer and connect it to the other? Why not just get a multi port FW box. I have a couple 4 port for USB and they work great. Connect the "main" port to the FW Drive, one cable from one multi port to your iMac and another cable from a multi port to your kid's iMac. It's kinda like a "Y" with 4 "IN" and 1 "OUT". My USB ports have an AC adaptor for anything that needs power to work. I saw some for USB and FW at Comp USA today. Not expensive.

Does this make sense?

 

[MowHoward2210]

Greg I've thought of that before, but the FW hubs are kind of pricey compared to USB hubs. The external drive usually stays connected to my machine. I don't edit video frequently, and the ports are real easy to get to, so it is does not seem cost effective at this time. Of course I could always ask Santa. :truth:

 

[MowHoward2210]

Greg, what kind of price did you see on the FW hub? They were around $90 when I looked at them.

 

[Greg]

Mow,

Here's a link to CompUSA showing Belkin hubs starting at $35 for a 3 port (one main, 2 accy). That hub would do the trick for the drive. Best you check the specs, though. Belkin stuff is supposed to be pretty good. I know, and like, their cables.

http://www.compusa.com/products/products.asp?in_dim_search=1&N=200541